1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for driving dampers of a musical instrument.
2. Description of Related Art
One example of a musical instrument equipped with damper mechanisms is a piano. The following Patent Literature 1 discloses an automatic playing piano as a piano in which dampers are driven by actuators. The disclosed piano has a solenoid, and a loud lever is in contact with a plunger of the solenoid. The loud lever is supported by a fulcrum and rotates about the fulcrum when pushed by the plunger, thereby pushing up a lifting push rod.
When the lifting push rod is pushed up, a lifting rail which is in contact with an upper end of the lifting push rod is pushed up, so that all of the dampers which are in pressing contact with associated strings are forcibly separated therefrom. As a result, sounds by the strings continue to be generated. This is because the dampers are spaced apart from the strings in a time period during which the lifting rail is pushed up, irrespective of whether keys are depressed or not.
The loud lever is provided with a lever return spring which gives, to the loud lever, a force in a direction opposite to a direction in which the lifting push rod is pushed up. Accordingly, when the solenoid is de-energized, the loud lever returns back to its original position and the dampers come into pressing contact with the strings.    Patent Literature 1: JP-A-2002-14669